Friday, September 18, 2015

Starburst Twist Mystery Quilt

One of my college minors was in Chinese History. The course made an impression on me and needless to say, it only covered a couple of centuries. What it did was to spark an interest that I've nurtured for decades. One of the old Chinese sayings I remember is, "Talk doesn't cook rice."

I laid out the last one of my quilts that I will machine quilt this year. I've laid it out a few times and again this morning, deciding that it would be ok to do a simple grid. I have been hesitating the quilting choices because of the machine stitching, and struggling with the tension on it that wasn't working either on top or bottom. It has a lot to do with threading the needle and bobbin correctly and checking to make sure it is right before doing to many lines.I love how this mystery quilt turned out (yet again, they turn out beautifully) and hesitated to 'ruin' it with my primitive quilting skills. As much as I wanted to work with free motion quilting this year, it wasn't working for me. And then, there were the more skilled quilters with all their advice and comments that the simple grid stitches were boring and, well, primitive. Somehow, in my mind, I heard this ancient Chinese wisdom over and over and knew that if I didn't just do it, do something, then her quilt would sit and perhaps become an unfinished object (UFO). Its just far too lovely to let that happen. And therefore, I have begun and the machine is cooperating with threads and tension.

Much of life is like that for me. Just yesterday, I found and printed off some affirmations and have the sheet of paper on my elliptical trainer. I work out daily and having this list gets me through the workout with purpose. The printout has 30 points, so my plan is to say the entire list a few times and focus on the specific number on the list for the day / date as the guiding affirmation. It joins my body / mind /spirit in a good way that helps work on a number of healthy aspects of who I am.

And as for the rice. I plan to make some and put cioppino over it today. Its a yum treat I buy whenever I go to Trader Joe's in Palmdale. It tastes as good as I remember, and I will add some frozen shrimp to it and often just eat it with some good bread. This time. Rice. Talk really doesn't cook rice.